Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
Latest action · Dec 2, 2025 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 16, 2025
- Passed HouseDec 1, 2025
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise venture capital investment regulations to allow additional types of investments to be considered as qualifying investments. Venture capital funds are exempt from certain regulations applicable to other investment firms, including those related to filings, audits, and restricted communications with investors. Under current regulations, non-qualifying investments—which include secondary transactions and investments in other venture capital funds—may comprise up to 20% of a venture capital fund.
The bill allows investments acquired through secondary transactions or investments in other venture capital funds to be considered as qualifying investments for venture capital funds. However, for a private fund to qualify as a venture capital fund, the fund's investments must predominately (1) be acquired directly, or (2) be investments in other venture capital funds.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jul 21, 2025.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-IL | Sean Casten | Jul 21, 2025 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Financial Services Committee | Referred Jul 16, 2025Markup Jul 22, 2025Reported Sep 8, 2025 |
| Senate | Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee | Referred Dec 2, 2025 |
Actions 12
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 2, 2025Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- Dec 1, 2025Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H4948-4950)
- Dec 1, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4949)
- Dec 1, 2025Mr. Davidson moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Dec 1, 2025DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4429.
- Dec 1, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Sep 8, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 119-246.
- Sep 8, 2025Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 203.
- Jul 22, 2025Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jul 22, 2025Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 50 - 2.
- Jul 16, 2025Introduced in House
- Jul 16, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H4948–H4950Text printed H4949Cost estimates H4950 | Ann Wagner R-MO, Maxine Waters D-CA, Sean Casten D-IL, Warren Davidson R-OH | Dec 1, 2025 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Jan 13, 2026H.R. 4429, Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025As passed by the House of Representatives on December 1, 2025
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 122, July 16, 2025, page H3368.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R48885 | The Incentivizing New Ventures and Economic Strength Through Capital Formation (INVEST) Act of 2025 (H.R. 3383) | Report | Mar 24, 2026 |
Titles 6
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise the definition of a qualifying investment, for purposes of the exemption from registration for venture capital fund advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, to include an equity security issued by a qualifying portfolio company and to include an investment in another venture capital fund, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
- Short Title(s) as Reported to House
- Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
- Short Title(s) as Passed House
- Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
- Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
- Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
- Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
- To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise the definition of a qualifying investment, for purposes of the exemption from registration for venture capital fund advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, to include an equity security issued by a qualifying portfolio company and to include an investment in another venture capital fund, and for other purposes.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector.
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 2, 2025Referred in Senate
- Dec 1, 2025Engrossed in House
- Sep 8, 2025Reported in House
- Jul 16, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
